Dictionary Entry
cathartic
Part of SpeechnounPronunciation/kuh-thar-tik/Word FrequencyUncommon (3.76)Curriculum FrequencyLess common (1)A laxative.
In a Sentence
“The doctor prescribed a mild cathartic to help with the patient's digestive issues.”
Published Usage Examples
“Ca 'is the abbreviation for the word cathartic, meaning healing.”
“It is on this fact that they founded their method of treatment, devised by Breuer and by him termed the cathartic method, though Freud prefers to call it the "analytic" method.”
This entry also appears in ReadingWillow Year 11 word lists, so students can move between the dictionary and year-level study sets.
Origin
From Greek 'katharsis' meaning purging or cleansing.
Common Phrases
Antonyms
No antonyms yet.
Related Words
Poetry examples for “cathartic”
Excerpts from the ReadingWillow English Library collection.
Poetry examples are still being gathered for this entry. They will appear here once matching poems are available in the library.
